2 replies to this topic

[willneverbethesame]

My doctor suggested it for chronic nerve pain, due to 2 cervical spine surgeries, and more degenerative disc disease + thoracic outlet syndrome, and nerve damage, and so on and so on. I wil probably need another surgery or two down the road, but trying to avoid it like the plague. I remember when I first took Cymbalta, I was sooo happy, and relaxed, and never felt better.

I know this might sound strange to some..., but after being on it for a year and a half I turned into a complet zombie that could not get off the bed to do a damn thing! I started picking my face????? What the H@+%*#$!! Yes, I have OCD, but this made my OCD much much worse, and I could zone like no other, and destroy my face, and turn it into a war zone. I could barely work anymore, and I didn't care anymore either. I just wanted to die most of the time (which was also, due to my chronic pain).

I have now been off of 90 mg's of Cymbalta since April 22nd (so about 28 days), and I feel the following still:

Bitchy
Migraine like headaches all day and night long
All my nerve pain is back (the Cymbalta must've covered that pain at least somewhat)
Hypersensitivity (like even my teeth hurt, as if I drank something hot, and then cold immediately after that)
I am emotional
I don't know how I am going to live like this??????
I don't care anymore
My whole entire body aches
Shooting nerve pain down arms, hands, face, head.

I did start on 20 mg's of Celexa to hopefully counteract some of the downfall, which I knew would happen, but I hate that crap too, and will be getting off that today! I am done with all that nasty SSRI medication!!! NO MORE EVER! I have not been able to go to work for the last week, and still cannot go today, and I feel like the biggest loser (even though I just gained 20 lbs in the last 3 weeks ha ha). I am in the middle of losing my house, and almost lost my husband, due to all the medical problems, and definitely the stupid idiotic Cymbalta, which put me into a Coma (more or less).

My pain doc, said that I might just HAVE to go back on a very low dose of the Cymbalta, and I said "over my dead body!!!". So I am currently taking TOPOMAX for nerve pain, which seems to work quite well, and I did quite a bit of research on it, before using it.

I hope and pray that I can just have LESS pain some day, because I know that I will never be without pain completely. I wish that I knew if these horrid horrid headache/migraines are from the withdrawals or from the cervical disc problems, and the thoracic outlet syndrome? I feel like I am going crazy!

[willneverbethesame]

Thanks, and yes I do think that the headaches are partially the Cymbalta, although it mostly runs up the left side of my head, and the left occipital nerve, which I've had problems with long before Cymbalta unfortunately (which the Cymbalta helped with, but the side effects are NOT worth it!). The pain runs up my left rib, through my left shoulder to my left temple, and then it feels like someone kicked me in the face (mostly on the left side). Also the base of my neck hurts like hell now, but I still have a grade II herniation on my C4-5, which they are afraid to operate on, because I am such a mess. I also recently accidentally ran into a giant truck mirror with my left shoulder (where I have the pinched nerve the Thoracic outlet syndrome), and it hurts like hell! I just remember when I just delivered one of my babies, and had an epidural to block the pain, and the dumb nurse forgot to keep up with the pain meds, and all the sudden the pain that had been masked the whole time hit me like a train wreck! That's kind of what it feels like now.

I'm just walking around crying, screaming and pissed off that I am in sooooo much pain. My kids think I'm nuts! I'm swearing like I have touretts or something, which normally (I'm not really sure what normal is anymore) I would never do.

[schmb01]

Topamax should help with your headaches, but, use caution with it. It is prescribed frequently for my chronic neurological condition, and the joke among people who take it is to call it "dopamax". It can cause short term memory issues, that some have said are quite scary. I've not taken it, but others have told me that oddly enough, when the dose is upped, the memory issues get better, and once your body is used to it, they get better too. I just wanted you to be aware of that potential if you are already feeling kind of spacy.